Weighed and Measured

 Today we went to the doctor for the 4 year-old check up.

They had their vision checked the the first time.
Good for now, we will see how long that lasts :)

They thought it was fun to get weighed and measured

The blood pressure cuff was a little weird

Claire was the first to get checked and everything looked great! 

She weighs 31.6 lbs (21%) and is 38.5" tall (24%)

Alice looked great as well. However, the Dr heard a Still's murmur in her heart. This is a benign heart murmur of childhood that will resolve as she grows, but good to be aware of because it gets louder if she is sick. So basically the only reason why it would come up is if we were in the Instacare and they freaked out because she has a murmur, and we can assure them that it is a Still's murmur. If you are interested you can click here to read the Wikipedia page on Still's murmurs. Alice's stats of note are: Weight 29 lbs (6%) and height 37.25" (7%). Still small but as Dr Baar says "It's just who she is."

We were given the option of doing their school vaccines now or waiting until they actually start school. The doctor suggested that we do it now as it is typically easier to give younger kids shot with a little bribery (stickers, suckers, and fancy bandaids). They were not too thrilled but did great. A little crying but it was soon over. Claire was very concerned telling me that she wasn't a very big girl because she cried, but I assured her that she did great and didn't cry for long. The best part of the whole event was that I explained to Claire that if she wanted to get her ears pierced (which she does) that it would be like getting a shot in each ear. She quickly decided that she would have no trouble waiting for a few years before doing that.

I am certainly grateful to have such healthy beautiful children!

Birthday

  Claire and Alice turned 4 on Friday with much anticipation and excitement. On the morning of their birthday they could hardly wait to do everything they had been telling me about for the last several weeks.  We started the morning with their favorite thing in the whole world, a huge pile of stickers to use to their heart's content (normally they are strickly rationed). After they had their sticker fill I made them their favorite breakfast ever, chocolate chip banana pancakes. This is one of the few meals that Alice eats without complaint and a decent amount of. After a hearty breakfast they were finally allowed to open their presents. The goods this year: a Disney Princess wardrobe, a Disney Princess Little People castle, and a couple books. They were in heaven!

   After they were tired of trying on all the dresses (there were 6) and playing with the castle, they wanted to go to This is the Place Heritage Park. Marc couldn't come, which Claire was upset about ("We are supposed to be together on birthdays") but she got over it. They were able to do their favorite things: riding ponies, petting animals, panning for gold, eating donuts, and general running around. They eagerly told everyone they could find that it was their birthday.

   Following the excitement of This is the Place we met up with Marc and headed to the store to get a few things for dinner and pick up a couple cupcakes. Unfortunately, Dan's didn't have any pink cupcakes, which Claire insisted on, so we headed a few doors down to a gourmet bakery which we had intended to avoid since I don't like paying $3 for a cupcake, but it was their birthday so whatever. When we got to the bakery and I noticed a sign "Sign up to get a free treat on your Birthday," I asked the girl at the counter about it. She said they would get something.  So we ordered our cupcakes and while Marc was paying, I took the girls to the potty. When we left I asked Marc what the girls got as their birthday treat and it was a free cupcake! I expected a stupid small thing but hey, we are going to the Sweet Tooth Fairy for every birthday and I would highly recommend it to everyone for their free birthday treat!

  We headed home for their birthday dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner they opened a couple more presents (puzzles and a giant Mr Potato Heat). They had a great time and a very fun birthday. All day Claire kept saying "Mom, this is the best birthday ever!" I am so glad she had a great time.

   We were supposed to have a dinner with family that night but due to a conflict with a BYU game we rescheduled for Sunday. The girls got their big cake and we saw everyone for dinner.